Diet Cola in the news today

Metro, Friday, April 21, 2017

The flashy headline: “Diet Cola link to dementia AND stroke” has caught my eyes today. Usually, I tend to steer away from such claims, but I thought is was quite appropriate in the scope of this newsletter. 
   The article started with: “DRINKING a diet cola a day almost triple your risk of suffering a stroke or developing dementia, a major new study shows. The shock findings were revealed by experts who tracked more than 4,000 volunteers for a decade, recording strokes in over-45s and dementia cases in over-60s. They found people who consumed at least one artificially sweetened drink a day were nearly three times more likely than those who did not to suffer either a stroke or dementia.”
   When turning the front page the articles continued with the title: “Sugary fizzy drinks ‘not the new healthy option’. My first reaction: Really!!!! (here place the emoticon of the furious face)
   The scarier part was that the articles announced that "nearly 15 billion litres of soft drinks were sold in Britain last year - more than 200 litres for every person - and more than half of them were either no-calorie or low-calorie.” 
   Knowing that I never go near such drinks, and most of my nutritionist colleagues, well over 500 ml or a pint a day is consumed by many people, including kids… 
The article concluded, which I urge you to read through the biased statement and recognise the vocabulary used here: “However, the British Soft Drinks Associations said: ‘Despite their claims, the authors of this observational study admit they found no cause and effect.’
 
   In the news again, soft drinks manufacturers soon facing the Tax on Sugar are asking to not be singled-out in the fight against obesity, Type-II Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease. What else than 24 spoons of sugar in a glass of cola or in a small bottle of NATURAL fruit juice, is  responsible for a diseased Western population? Diet soft drinks are not the answer as shown here, and as explained in my previous articles, they have the same impact on Insulin and as sugar are responsible for dips in energy, driving people to cravings and more snacking, with the accompanying negative effects of chemically produced sweeteners on the brain. 
 
   How on earth can they justify their product is anywhere near healthy, let alone good for us?
How much lobbying and money will these MEGA companies leach out to boost politicians campaigns to make sure they remain untouched, while millions suffer from obesity, diabetes, chronic stress-related conditions, auto-immune diseases and those who just don't know the link and just assume it is safe to drink and eat such food...
   I understand many do not care what enters their mouth and digestive system but some really don't know what is bad or good, simply because they are ill-equipped to skim through the flashy headlines and the biased studies claiming that these non-foods products are completely safe and actually "good" for us consumers. This is not HAPPINESS!


​More media on the story:

Daily Express
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-express/20170421/281479276294679
ITV news:
http://www.itv.com/news/2017-04-21/could-a-diet-drink-a-day-increase-your-risk-of-dementia-or-a-stroke/
BBC News
"Diet drink warning"Health alert", claims The Daily Express, as it reports on a study which has found people who have at least one artificially-sweetened - or "diet" - drink a day were three times more likely to suffer a stroke or develop dementia as those who avoid them. The Telegraph adds that while no such link was found with sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks, scientists have warned one may still exist - so sugary drinks should not be treated as a healthy option."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-39662684


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